Method and apparatus for software defined flow control in wireless systems

Abstract

A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for performing flow control. In one embodiment, the method is for use in a wireless network apparatus that includes a controller, wireless entities, user equipments, and includes the following operations: collecting, by the controller, signal strength measurements from entities of the plurality of wireless entities; collecting, by the controller, channel quality indicators (CQI) information provided by one or more UEs of the at least one UEs; generating a CQI estimate for each entity of the plurality of entities not serving a flow to a UE; and determining, by the controller, forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow, based on one or more of the signal strength measurements, the channel quality indicators (CQIs) provided by one or more UEs, and one or more generated CQI estimates associated with entities not serving a flow to a UE.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A method for use in a wireless network apparatus comprising a controller, a plurality of wireless entities controlled by the controller, and one or more user equipments (UEs), the plurality of wireless entities including at least one base station, the method comprising:
 collecting, by the controller, signal strength measurements from entities of the plurality of wireless entities;   collecting, by the controller, channel quality indicators (CQI) information provided by one or more UEs of the at least one UEs;   generating a CQI estimate for each entity of the plurality of entities not serving a flow to a UE; and   determining, by the controller, forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow, based on one or more of the signal strength measurements, the channel quality indicators (CQIs) provided by one or more UEs, and one or more generated CQI estimates associated with entities not serving a flow to a UE.   
     
     
         2 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising collecting one or both of packet loss information and information specifying retransmission events, and wherein determining forwarding decisions for the one or more flows is based on the one or both of packet loss information and information specifying retransmission events. 
     
     
         3 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising sending information to update flow routing table entries of one or more wireless entities of the plurality of wireless entities. 
     
     
         4 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising determining, by the controller, flow priority decisions for flows of the one or more flows, based on one or more of the signal strength measurements, the channel quality indicators (CQIs) provided by one or more UEs, and one or more generated CQI estimates associated with entities not serving a flow to a UE. 
     
     
         5 . The method defined in  claim 4  wherein determining flow priority decisions for flows of the one or more flows is based on updated flow quality requirements. 
     
     
         6 . The method defined in  claim 5  wherein determining forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow is based on updated flow quality requirements. 
     
     
         7 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the channel quality indicators (CQI) information provided by the one or more UEs is provided to the controller via a wireless entity currently serving a flow to the UE. 
     
     
         8 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein determining forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow comprises selecting a wireless entity with a best CQI in comparison to the other wireless entities in the plurality of entities to serve a particular flow. 
     
     
         9 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein determining forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow comprises switching from a first wireless entity serving a particular flow to a second wireless entity to serve the particular flow if CQI information of the first wireless entity drops to below a value. 
     
     
         10 . The method defined in  claim 9  wherein the value is a threshold value. 
     
     
         11 . The method defined in  claim 9  wherein the value is CQI information of the second wireless entity. 
     
     
         12 . The method defined in  claim 1  further comprising communicating with a QoS scheduler to change a flow priority level. 
     
     
         13 . The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the plurality of wireless entities comprises one or more network routers. 
     
     
         14 . The method defined in  claim 12  wherein the one or more routers comprises edge or gateway routers. 
     
     
         15 . A wireless communication system comprising:
 at least one user equipment (UE);   a plurality of wireless entities including at least two base stations and one or more other networking entities;   a controller, communicably coupled to the plurality of base stations and the one or more network entities, to control the plurality of base stations and the one or more network entities by collecting signal strength measurements from entities of the plurality of wireless entities, channel quality indicators (CQI) information provided by one or more UEs of the at least one UE, generating a CQI estimate for each entity of the plurality of entities not serving a flow to a UE, and determining forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow, based on one or more of the signal strength measurements, the channel quality indicators (CQIs) provided by one or more UEs, and one or more generated CQI estimates associated with entities not serving a flow to a UE.   
     
     
         16 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 15  wherein the controller is operable to collect one or both of packet loss information and information specifying retransmission events and determine forwarding decisions for the one or more flows based on the one or both of packet loss information and information specifying retransmission events. 
     
     
         17 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 15  wherein the controller sends information to update flow routing table entries of one or more wireless entities of the plurality of wireless entities. 
     
     
         18 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 15  wherein the controller determines flow priority decisions for flows of the one or more flows, based on one or more of the signal strength measurements, the channel quality indicators (CQIs) provided by one or more UEs, and one or more generated CQI estimates associated with entities not serving a flow to a UE. 
     
     
         19 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 18  wherein the controller determines flow priority decisions for flows of the one or more flows also based on updated flow quality requirements. 
     
     
         20 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 19  wherein the controller determines forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow is based on updated flow quality requirements. 
     
     
         21 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 15  wherein the channel quality indicators (CQI) information provided by the one or more UEs is provided to the controller via a wireless entity currently serving a flow to the UE. 
     
     
         22 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 15  wherein the controller determines forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow comprises selecting a wireless entity with a best CQI in comparison to the other wireless entities in the plurality of entities to serve a particular flow. 
     
     
         23 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 15  wherein the controller determines forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow comprises switching from a first wireless entity serving a particular flow to a second wireless entity to serve the particular flow if CQI information of the first wireless entity drops to below a value. 
     
     
         24 . The wireless communication system defined in  claim 15  wherein the plurality of wireless entities comprises one or more network routers. 
     
     
         25 . An article of manufacture having one or more non-transitory storage media storing instructions which, when executed by a controller in a wireless network apparatus performs a method, the wireless network apparatus comprising a plurality of wireless entities controlled by the controller and one or more user equipments (UEs), the plurality of wireless entities including at least one base station, the method comprising:
 collecting, by the controller, signal strength measurements from entities of the plurality of wireless entities;   collecting, by the controller, channel quality indicators (CQI) information provided by one or more UEs of the at least one UEs;   generating a CQI estimate for each entity of the plurality of entities not serving a flow to a UE; and   determining, by the controller, forwarding decisions for one or more flows to specify which wireless entity is to serve which flow, based on one or more of the signal strength measurements, the channel quality indicators (CQIs) provided by one or more UEs, and one or more generated CQI estimates associated with entities not serving a flow to a UE.   
     
     
         26 . The method defined in  claim 25  further comprising collecting one or both of packet loss information and information specifying retransmission events, and wherein determining forwarding decisions for the one or more flows is based on the one or both of packet loss information and information specifying retransmission events. 
     
     
         27 . The method defined in  claim 25  further comprising determining, by the controller, flow priority decisions for flows of the one or more flows, based on one or more of the signal strength measurements, the channel quality indicators (CQIs) provided by one or more UEs, and one or more generated CQI estimates associated with entities not serving a flow to a UE.